How racist is America?

[lawrocket 3]

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Yeah, but the black community would have nothing to gain by capping Obama

Nor did they have anything to gain by capping Malcolm X, did they?

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[rushmc 23]

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The country is less racists than Obama is.

That's 'coz we're too busy being bitter....you know, clinging to our guns & religion.

Oh, ya

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[kelpdiver 2]

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Yeah, but the black community would have nothing to gain by capping Obama

Nor did they have anything to gain by capping Malcolm X, did they?

Some would. His power gained was someone else's loss.

But no other black candidate for President exists.

[thirdworld19 0]

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Those two questions don't compare. "Are humans racist?" isn't asking for a comparison. It's asking whether or not humans are racist. A yes or no question. "How racist are these particular humans?" now that asks for a measure of racism and assumes the there is a degree of racism already present.

The question assumes racism is not a binary quality. It does not, however, imply the requirement of an answer relative to other countries or other eras, such as "How does racism in the US compare with racism in other countries?" or "Has racism in the US increased or decreased in the last x years?" imply.

Using the word "How" in the question inherently asks for a comparison. Is America 'very' racist? What exactly does 'very' mean? 'Somewhat' racist? Not racist at all? They all imply comparisons. Please, give an example of an answer that does not use a comparison.

[jcd11235 0]

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Using the word "How" in the question inherently asks for a comparison. Is America 'very' racist? What exactly does 'very' mean? 'Somewhat' racist? Not racist at all? They all imply comparisons. Please, give an example of an answer that does not use a comparison.

In this context (as opposed to, for example, "How do you make a PB&J sandwich?") How implies "to what degree?" not a comparison to other countries.

We could assume the extremes of the spectrum are everybody hates anybody of a race different from their own as maximum racism, and everybody considers the color of a person's skin as no more significant than the color of their eyes as total absence of racism.

The US certainly does not have an absence of racism, but most people in the US are not hung up on the race of others. Some of the worst racists I have encountered are the police (due to the circular argument that there are more blacks in prison, so blacks must commit more crime), the elderly (due to growing up in a time when racism was more acceptable), and those that Jeff Foxworthy might call rednecks (often due to lack of exposure to many people of other races and a pride in a heritage that included racism). That certainly does not mean that every member of any of those groups is racist, simply that the concentration of racism in those groups, in my experience, is higher than the population in general. Furthermore, many people who do not consider themselves racist draw the line at interracial dating and marriage, which they are often opposed to.

I have two good friends which I would consider racist (and rednecks ). Of these two, the one I have spent the most time with in recent years, I have also tried to subtilely educate w/r/t racism being a bad thing. A while back, I saw him invite a black neighbor into his home for dinner. For me this would be insignificant, aside from the fact that I don't often invite anyone over for dinner. For him, I considered it good progress.

My oldest uncle, in his seventies, owns a second house, which he and my aunt keep well maintained and rent out. A couple years back, when the house was vacant, the only renter applicants were black. Reluctantly, they rented the house to a black family. My uncle's best friend of many decades has not spoken to him since. My aunt commented about how clean the black mother kept her children, genuinely surprised that the kids were not somehow dirtier due to not being white. So, while undeniably still racist, they have made progress in recent years, at least to the extent that they have learned that cleanliness and reliable rent payments are not a function of skin color, and that is a good thing, even if it is only a small step in the right direction.

Racism is still very much alive in America, but little by little it is diminishing.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[thirdworld19 0]

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Using the word "How" in the question inherently asks for a comparison. Is America 'very' racist? What exactly does 'very' mean? 'Somewhat' racist? Not racist at all? They all imply comparisons. Please, give an example of an answer that does not use a comparison.

In this context (as opposed to, for example, "How do you make a PB&J sandwich?") How implies "to what degree?" not a comparison to other countries.

Thank you. You proved the point of comparison in the first line of your example. You needed examples as the baselines of maximum racism and total absence of racism. You gave the reader something to compare to (regardless of whether it was another country, another point in time, etc.).

[jcd11235 0]

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Thank you. You proved the point of comparison in the first line of your example. You needed examples as the baselines of maximum racism and total absence of racism. You gave the reader something to compare to (regardless of whether it was another country, another point in time, etc.).

No, I proved mine. The point from this post which I took issue with claimed that the answer to the question needed to compare the US with other countries in order to be answered, which is not true.

As for using any comparison, everything is relative, except for the speed of light in a particular medium (for which the wavelength is relative). Ask where something is, and it can only be answered relative to another location. Ask what the temperature of something is, and the answer will be given relative to one baseline or another. Ask what something is, and the answer is relative (is my computer an electronic device, or is it an organized collection of plastic, silicon, metal, etc; or is it a collection of atoms, or is it a collection of subatomic particles and a massive amount of energy taking up a disproportionately large amount of otherwise empty space). If I ask who someone is, the answer is relative.

Such comparative answers are inherent to language. "How racist is America?" doesn't require comparison to other countries. What it does require is a definition of racism, and some sort of metric by which to measure, either quantitatively or qualitatively. That's true of any question.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[mirage62 0]

I'll tell you.

Bert is a skydiver, he was in texas doing the 100 ways last week.

Bert is black.

We made Bert ride in the back of the Otter the entire time, while white skydivers road in the front.

In a nod to changing times we DID let Bert have O2, but threaten to turn it off when he asked for heat.

Hell pretty soon he'll want to ride up front.

And that my friend is how racist America skydiving is.

Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

[beowulf 1]

Sounds like Bert is a freeflyer. We don't get to exit first!

[mirage62 0]

Naaa, he's a damn good r.w. big way jumper. If he was a F.F. we wouldn't have given him the O2

Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

[likearock 2]

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I would suspect a white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin in the U.S.. If it were any other, I'd be very surprised. I'd never underestimate what a motivated lone gunman would/could do.

And why exactly isn't your statement itself an example of racism?

[Tink1717 2]

I never said it wasn't.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[rehmwa 2]

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I would suspect a white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin in the U.S.. If it were any other, I'd be very surprised. I'd never underestimate what a motivated lone gunman would/could do.

And why exactly isn't your statement itself an example of racism?

profiling is NOT racism - there is no devious or harmful intent in objectively using statistics to id the most likely suspect

now, is the profile based on real data, or just small scale opinion - i.e., is it real profiling based on real trends and data? or just racism because the user is too lazy to do his homework and watches too many episodes of CSI and Criminal Minds......

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[likearock 2]

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I would suspect a white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin in the U.S.. If it were any other, I'd be very surprised. I'd never underestimate what a motivated lone gunman would/could do.

And why exactly isn't your statement itself an example of racism?

profiling is NOT racism - there is no devious or harmful intent in objectively using statistics to id the most likely suspect

And statistically, black on black murder is much more likely than white on black. If his statement was based on a statistical analysis, he should have made that clear. I don't know of any statistics that would support the proposition that a potential murderer of Obama would be more likely to be white. Do you?

[rehmwa 2]

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I don't know of any statistics that would support the proposition that a potential murderer of Obama would be more likely to be white. Do you?

"white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin (SIC)in the U.S."

Straight off of most every TV show that deals with the subject.

The profile of a murderer of any pres candidate would have to be based on the type of murder, where it occurred, the evidence at hand, etc.

It's sheer idiocy to try to hypothesize a situation that has no facts to it. It only serves to feed certain people's personal biases and need to call others names.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[downwardspiral 0]

Being "dark skinned" I can say without a doubt America is incredibly racist.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[likearock 2]

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I don't know of any statistics that would support the proposition that a potential murderer of Obama would be more likely to be white. Do you?

"white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin (SIC)in the U.S."

Straight off of most every TV show that deals with the subject.

The profile of a murderer of any pres candidate would have to be based on the type of murder, where it occurred, the evidence at hand, etc.

It's sheer idiocy to try to hypothesize a situation that has no facts to it. It only serves to feed certain people's personal biases and need to call others names.

The thread is "How racist is America?". The irony is that some people are so consumed with white against black racism that their beliefs can become racist themselves (cf. Jeremiah Wright). Racism, like hatred, infects both sides of the fence.

[juanesky 0]

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I would suspect a white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin in the U.S.. If it were any other, I'd be very surprised. I'd never underestimate what a motivated lone gunman would/could do.

Yes, and we all know that whoever killed RFK was white!!!

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[juanesky 0]

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With Barak Obama running for POTUS it seems that so much has been made of his colour. After the hurricane Katrina it seems that the blacks were left to fend for themselves. So often I see on American films and media race being brought up and it appears from the outside looking in (and from the inside looking and listening) that America is quite a racist place. When I say this I'm not just talking about white on black but black against white, mexican against white and so on. Is it really that overt? How racist is America now in 2008? I'm not saying that we don't have issues with racism in the UK, but it seems to be that in the US its far more overt and to some degree more acceptable. Am I wrong? What is it like in the US today when it comes to racism and why does it appear to be such an issue?

Now, that's an irony coming froma subject of a kingdom historically known to be very unacommodating to those people of countries they pillaged for centuries, and casted them as second class citizens.

A good example, would be what was lived by M. Ghandi.

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[Skyrad 0]

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I don't know of any statistics that would support the proposition that a potential murderer of Obama would be more likely to be white. Do you?

"white male. That is the typical profile of an assasin (SIC)in the U.S."

Straight off of most every TV show that deals with the subject.

The profile of a murderer of any pres candidate would have to be based on the type of murder, where it occurred, the evidence at hand, etc.

It's sheer idiocy to try to hypothesize a situation that has no facts to it. It only serves to feed certain people's personal biases and need to call others names.

The thread is "How racist is America?". The irony is that some people are so consumed with white against black racism that their beliefs can become racist themselves (cf. Jeremiah Wright). Racism, like hatred, infects both sides of the fence.

I've noticed that all the talk seems to be about white v's Black racism, what about Mexican/Latino racism? Isn't that quite prevelant?

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Skyrad 0]

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With Barak Obama running for POTUS it seems that so much has been made of his colour. After the hurricane Katrina it seems that the blacks were left to fend for themselves. So often I see on American films and media race being brought up and it appears from the outside looking in (and from the inside looking and listening) that America is quite a racist place. When I say this I'm not just talking about white on black but black against white, mexican against white and so on. Is it really that overt? How racist is America now in 2008? I'm not saying that we don't have issues with racism in the UK, but it seems to be that in the US its far more overt and to some degree more acceptable. Am I wrong? What is it like in the US today when it comes to racism and why does it appear to be such an issue?

Now, that's an irony coming froma subject of a kingdom historically known to be very unacommodating to those people of countries they pillaged for centuries, and casted them as second class citizens.

A good example, would be what was lived by M. Ghandi.

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I'm not saying that we don't have issues with racism in the UK,

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Tink1717 2]

No. but Booth, Oswald, Czolgosz, Ray and most of the others were.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717